Veneer-cutting machine.



PATENTED APR. 4, 1905.

E. E. GRIMSLBVYY. VENEER CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1904.

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No. 786.560. PATENTED APR. 4, 1905..

- H. E. GRIMSLEY. VENEER CUTTING MACHINE.

APJPLIOATION FILED JUNE 30, 1904.

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H. E. GRIMSLEY.

VENEER CUTTING MACHINE. APPLIGATION rum) mm: so, 1904.

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| I N wi "H j UNITED STATES Patented April 4, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

HARMON EDWARD GRIMSLEY, OF WINSTON SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO GEORGE A. GRIMSLEY, OF GREENSBORO,

NORTH CAROLINA.

VENEER-CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,560, dated. April4, 1905.

Application filed June 30, 1904. Serial No. 214,714.

To (/JZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I ,TIARMON EDWARD GRIMS- LEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Winston Salem, in the county of Forsyth and State ofNorth Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVeneer-Outting Machines,-of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for cut- IO ting thin slices, slabs,or sheets of veneer from blocks or bolts of wood, and particularly fromquartered oak.

My invention especially relates to the class of such machines in whichthe bolt or block 5 of wood from which the veneer is to be cut ismounted in a reciprocating carriage which moves back and forth past aslicing-knife. In such machines usually a single knife is employed andcutting is done during one stroke 2 of each reciprocation, no work beingdone during the back stroke, and usually the block or bolt on the backstroke moves in contact with the knife, thus causing it to wear undulyand sometimes injuring the bolt.

According to my invention the block or bolt of wood from which theveneer is to be cut is mounted in a reciprocating carriage, beneathwhich are arranged two knives, which cut veneer from the bolt duringeach stroke of the machine, and the arrangement is such that after aknife has cut veneer from the bolt it is lowered or withdrawn out of theway of the bolt, so that on the return stroke the latter does not movein contact with the knife. The knives are mounted in a frame whichreciprocates to a limited extent in a direction transverse to themovement of the bolt-carrying carriage, and this frame is mounted oneccentric bars, which at proper 4 times are automatically shifted, so asto give a tilting movement to the knife-frame in order to alternatelywithdraw one knife and present the other. The bolt or block is fed tothe knives by gravity; but a stay-log is preferably employed, which addsweight to the block and insures the proper engagement thereof with theknives. This stay-log descends by gravity, but is raised by power.

The bolt is securely held in the carriage by clamps on opposite sides ofthe carriage. One 5 set of clamps is operated by gearing to press thebolt against clamping-disks, which have flattened portions and curvedportions and which are automatically turned. so as to alternately engageand release the bolt. In this 5 5 way the bolt is securely held whilebeing cut and is automatically released and fed toward the knivesimmediately after the veneer is cut from it. The carriage is providedwith a frame which supports a receptacle into which the veneer descendsimmediately after it is cut from the bolt. The receptacle reciprocateswith the carriage and receives the veneer in successive slices, as it iscut in such manner that the two successive slices may lie flat 5 uponeach other, and thus match. The receptacle when full may be easilyremoved from the frame and a new receptacle may be supplied to receivemore veneer. Mounted to slide in the main frame is a bolt-support- 7 ingframe or gage on which the bolt at times rests and which may be adjustedin such manner as to govern the thickness of the veneer cut from thebolt.

Otherfeatures of theinvention will be hereinafter more particularlyreferred to.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a front elevation of myimproved veneer-cutting machine. Fig. 2 shows a lefthand end elevationthereof. Fig. 3 shows a 30 longitudinal section on the line 3 3 ofFig. 1. Fig. 4; is a plan view. Fig. 5 is a detail view in perspectiveof part of the clamping mechanism. Fig. 6 shows a transverse section onthe line 6 6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a detail per- 5 spective view of thesupporting frame or gage which governs the thickness of the veneer cutby the knives. Fig. 8 is a detail view in perspective of part of thebolt-clamping mechanism. 9

The main frame of the machine comprises front and rear frame-pieces A A,which may, if desired, be bolted down to any suitable support. Theseframe-pieces are connected by shafts B B, hereinafter more particularlyreferred to. The frame-pieces A have grooves a, which receive ribs ontheunder side of the frame of the carriage C, which carriage is adaptedto reciprocate back and forth on said frame pieces A A. The carriage isformed with a box or receptacle D to receive the block or bolt X fromwhich the veneer is to be cut. This box is closed at one end (Z and isopen at the opposite end 4. It is open at top and bottom and closed onopposite sides (Z (Z A stay-log E its the box or receptacle D and isadapted to move up and down therein. It is connected at opposite ends torods f, depending from cross-heads F, which are in turn connected to therods of the pistons G, operating in steam-cylinders H. The arrangementis such that while the stay-log may descend slowly by gravity it can beraised quickly by steam. The block or bolt X is introd uced into the boxD through the open end d thereof. The bolt is fed to the machine overrollers 2 mounted on a frame I, and from these rollers it passes throughthe opening d into the box D and rests on the frame J. This frame, asshown clearly in Fig. 7, consists of two parallel frame-pieces y',connected by cross-pieces y". At their ends the side pieces j are formedwith slides 7' fitting guides f on the framepieces A A. Each of theseslides f has a lug j, with which engages a screw 1:, connected with ahand-wheel K, arranged between lugs 7r on the frame-pieces A A. Bymanipulating the hand-wheels K the frame may be raised or lowered to aproper extent to hold the bolt X at the desired elevation to give thedesired depth of cut or thickness of veneer. hen the gageframe is onceadjusted, no further adjustment need be given to it until the desirednumber of bolts are cut up into veneer of the desired thickness. Then ifit be desired to change the thickness of veneer the hand-wheels may beoperated to a proper extent. \Vhen a bolt has been inserted into the boxD and the staylog has been lowered upon it in the manner indicated inFigs. 3 and 6, the clamping-blocks L are made to engage the bolt andmove it toward the clamping cam-wheels M. The blocks L are engaged byscrews Z, which are geared, in the manner indicated in Fig. 6 and alsoin Fig. 4, with a shaft N, which is geared, in the manner clearlyindicated. with an upright shaft 72, carrying a crank-handle a. Byturning this handle the clamping-blocks L may be moved back and forth tothe desired extent. The cam-wheels M are carried by short shafts 711.,each of which is geared, in the manner clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and6, with a horizontal shaft M, which is mounted in suitable bearings onthe carriage and carries at its front end a spur-wheel O. gearing withanother spur-wheel, O, on a stud-shaft 0. This last-mentioned spur-wheelO is adapted at times to gear with a rack of teeth 0 secured to thefront frame-piece A. This rack may be adjustable in the manner indicatedin Fig. 1. As shown, it has six teeth adapted to mesh with twelve teethin the wheel 0. As shown in Figs. 4: and 5, the wheels M have flattenedopposite sides m m" and curved opposite sides m m. When the flattenedsides are presented to the interior of the box D, the wheels do notengage the bolt X; but when the curved sides are thus presented theyengage the bolt and, in connection with the clamping-blocks L, securelyhold it. In Fig. 6 the wheels M are out of engagement with the bolt; butif the carriage is moved in either direction the shaft M will be turnedthrough the gearing before described, and the wheels M will be given aquarter-turn, so as to cause them to engage the bolt. At the proper timethese wheels are given another quarter-turn, which will cause them todisengage from the bolt. This operation will be referred to againhereinafter.

The knives P P are attached to a knifeframe Q, consisting of heavy endpieces q, connected at front and rear by cross-pieces Q, and this framerests on the bars B B, hereinbefore referred to. These bars'are mountedin suitable bearings in the frames A A and while they have no end wisemovement therein are free to turn to a limited extent. They haveeccentric portions 6, which enter curved grooves g in the under sides ofthe end pieces q of the knife-frame. These grooves are of somewhatgreater diameter than the eccentric portions of the bars B B, asindicated in Fig. 6.

To the bars B B are attached arms B joined by aconnecting-rod B Each barB B also carries a projecting arm or finger B B", which is adapted toengage a hook R or R, pivotally connected with some part of the carriageC in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 1. The carriageis reciprocated bymeans of pitmen S, connected with crank-arms S, radiating from adriving-shaft S carrying the belt-pulley S The knife-frame is connectedby pitmen T with crank-arms T on a driving-shaft T carrying abelt-pulley T The arrangement is such that the knife-frame isreciprocated to a limited extent as the carriage moves transverselyacross the knives. In this way a clean easy cut is made.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 6 and assuming that the carriage C ismoving to the right by means of the gearing before described, the

clam p-wheels M will be made to firmly engage the bolt, which will slideover the gage-frame J. At this time the knife P is raised and cutsveneer from the bolt. Immediately after the veneer is cut the hook Rengages the arm B. This causes the bars B B to be turned in theirbearings in such manner as to depress the knife P, so that as thecarriage retreats the knife P will be out of contact with the bolt whilethe knife P is raised into operative position. As the carriage furthermoves to the left the spur-wheel O engages the rack O and a quarter-turnis given to the clampwheels M and the bolt lowers onto the gageframe J.As the carriage continues its movement to the left the clamp-wheels areturned to a greater extent and their circular or cam portions are madeto engage the bolt, now set to its new position,and hold it securely.Then the bolt engages the knife P and another slice of veneer is cut. Asthe carriage moves farther to the left the hook R engages the arm 13 andshifts the knives, so as to lower the knife P and elevate the knife P.The operations are repeated in a similar manner. As the veneer is cut itpasses between the knives and the gage-frame J and falls into areceptacle U, which extends from one end of the machine to the other andis supported on frame-bars V, attached to the carriage, extending overthe left-hand end of the machine and down under the knife frame. Theseframe pieces hold the receptacle U immediately beneath the knife whichis doing the cutting, and after this knife has cut its slice of veneerthe receptacle is carried by the carriage over to a position beneath theother knife. Therefore the receptacle receives successive slices ofveneer from the bolt, which will lie fiat upon each other with the grainmatching. The knives P P may be adjusted when ground in the mannerindicated in Fig. 6. After the bolt is cut down to the spalt thestay-log E may be quickly raised by steam in the manner before describedand the spalt may be withdrawn endwise. bolts are steamed before eachslice of veneer is cut from it by means of a perforated steampipe W,connected in any suitable way with a boiler supplying live steam.

I claim as my invention- 1. A veneer-cutting machine comprising areciprocating bolt-carrier, a knife-frame reciprocating transversely tothe direction in which the bolt-carrier moves, knives carried by theknife-frame for cutting veneer at each stroke of the bolt-carrier, andmechanism for moving the knife-frame to withdraw each knife to adefinite extent from the path of the bolt after it has cut a slice ofveneer therefrom without interfering with the transversely-reciprocatingmovement of the knifeframe.

2. A veneer-cutting machine comprising a bolt-carrier, a crank-operatedpitman connected therewith for reciprocating it, a knifeframe, acrank-operated pitman connected therewith for reciprocating ittransversely to the direction from which the bolt-carrier moves, knivesmounted on the knife-frame and adapted to cut veneer from the boltduring each stroke thereof, and means operated by the bolt-carrier atthe end of each stroke for tilting the knife-frame to withdraw eachknife from the bolt immediately after it has cut a slice of veneertherefrom.

Preferably the" end of each stroke of the bolt-carrier.

5. A veneer-cutting machine comprising a reciprocating bolt-carrier, aknife-frame carrying two oppositely -inclined knives, bars havingeccentric portions on which the knifecarrying frame rests, connectionsbetween said bars by which they are made to move coincidently, anddevices carried by the bolt-carrier for turning said bars to cause theknifecarrying frame to tilt and thus move one knife out of the path ofthe bolt while causing the other knife to move into the path thereof.

6. A veneer-cutting machine comprising a rapidly-reciprocatingbolt-carrier, devices for clamping the boltin the carrier, a knife-framereciprocating transversely to the direction in which the bolt-carriermoves, oppositely-inclined knives carried by the knife-frame for cuttingveneer at each stroke of the bolt-carrier, mechanism for moving theknife-frame to withdraw each knife from the path of the bolt after ithas cut a slice of veneer therefrom, and means for releasing thebolt-clamping devices at the end of each stroke of the knife-frame.

7. A veneer-cutting machine comprising a supporting-frame, abolt-carrier mounted to reciprocate on said frame, a knife-carryingframe mounted to reciprocate transversely beneath the bolt-carrier, avertically-adjustable supporting frame or gage beneath the boltcarrierand between the knives, and a pipe attached to the supporting frame orgage for steaming the bolt while the veneer is being cut therefrom.

8. A veneer-cutting machine comprising a reciprocating bolt-carrier, aknife-frame below it carrying two knives, a removable receptacle forreceiving a plurality of sheets of veneer from the knives and a frameattached to the bolt-carrier and extending beneath the knives whichsupports the veneer-receiving receptacle and carries it alternately fromknife to knife whereby successive sheets of veneer are received andpiled in the receptacle.

9. A veneer-cutting machine comprising connections between the pistonsand the staylog whereby the stay-log may be rapidly raised by steamafter the bolt has been cut up.

10. In a veneer-cutting machine, the combination of a bolt-carrier,clamping-blocks mounted thereon, screws for opcrating'saidclamping-blocks, a handle, gearing connecting said screws with thehandle whereby the blocks may be simultaneously moved into engagementwith the bolt, cam-wheels adapted to engage the bolt, gearing forcoincidently operating said cam-wheels and means for periodicallyturning the said wheels to cause them to engage the bolt and todisengage therefrom.

11. In a veneer-cutting machine, the combination of a bolt-carrier, andclam ping devices comprising cam-wheels adapted to engage the bolt,gearing for eoincidently operating said cam-wheels, and means forperiodically turning the said wheels to cause them to engage the boltand to disengage therefrom.

12. In a veneer-cutting machine, the combination of a reciprocatingbolt-carrier, a knife-frame beneath it carrying two knives,

and clamping devices comprising cam-wheels adapted to engage the bolt,gearing connecting said cam-wheels with each other and devices forsetting said gearing into operation 13. A veneer-cutting machinecomprising a bolt-carrier provided with a boX for the bolt open at topand bottom and at one end, a roller-carrying frame opposite the open endof the box for receiving the bolt and guiding it into the box, astay-log, means for raisingit by steam, clamping devices operatingthrough the sides of the box for holding the bolt in place and aknife-carrying frame reciprocating beneath the bolt-carrier.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

IIARMON EDWARD GRIMSLEY.

WVitnesses:

HENRY S. For, J r., FLOYD J. GAITHER.

